The present invention concerns an intralaryngeal prosthesis.
It is known that, during the act of swallowing, the principal function of the larynx is to close off the airways so as to protect them and prevent the bolus of food from passing into them instead of moving through the esophagus. This closure is effected by a neuromuscular reflex shutting the glottis, resulting from the adduction of muscle groups located at three levels (aryepiglottic, ventricular bands and vocal cords). Dysfunction at one of these levels leads to problems in swallowing, since the larynx can no longer guarantee correct closure of the airways, with the result that the bolus of food can pass into these. This of course has dramatic consequences for the patient.
To date, only a tracheotomy has been able to prevent the dramatic consequences of laryngeal dysfunction. This involves permanent provision of an inflated tracheal balloon closing off the trachea upstream of a cannula arranged in the tracheotomy orifice.
It will be appreciated, then, that the present treatment of laryngeal dysfunction is particularly severe and mutilating and results in very great discomfort for the patients. Moreover, there is a risk of the tracheal balloon leading to tracheal complications, such as necrosis or secondary stenosis.